MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

7/24 Cubs 7, D-Backs 6 (12 innings)

Nate Schierholtz has been the Cubs most consistent hitter with runners on base for most of the season, and he came through at the right time Wednesday night. Schierholtz drove in a career-high five runs, hitting a three-run homer in the fifth and a game-winning RBI double in the 12th, to lift the Cubs to a 7-6 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are trying to keep pace with the Dodgers in the National League West.

Schierholtz was shut down for the Cubs’ final two games before the All-Star break because of nagging injuries, and admitted Wednesday that the rest helped.

“I’m feeling a lot better now,” Schierholtz said. “The All-Star break definitely helped, and so did the cortisone shot. I feel like I’m doing well now, and I’m trying to help the team.”

With two outs and the game tied at 6 against David Hernandez in the 12th, Anthony Rizzo walked to set up Schierholtz’s double into the left-field corner. Schierholtz’s previous high was three RBIs, done four times, most recently April 23, 2012, against the Mets.

Rizzo and rookie Junior Lake each hit RBI doubles for the Cubs, now 7-3 in extra-inning games this season. Chicago had only reliever Michael Bowden in the bullpen by the 12th.

“We were going to have to have the re-entry rule,” Dale Sveum jokingly said.

Jeff Samardzija scattered six hits over 5 2/3 innings, throwing a season-high 118 pitches. Arizona had two on and two outs in the sixth when he was pulled, and Paul Goldschmidt greeted Blake Parker with a three-run homer, his 22nd, to cut the Cubs’ lead to 6-5.

Well said, I believe that is why I am on the fence regarding trading him or not. I think if we can get some good prospects a trade would be more beneficial to the progress of the team than keeping The Shark long term…BUT….The Shark is a healthy and at the very least a GOOD pitcher so either way will work plus we have some time to see if he can get any better.

I`ve consistently asserted Smardj is not an ace; can be a reliable member of a rotation, but is not a #1. Saw Garza`s effort vs. Skankees last night and he was effective. That issue with making simple toss to first base from the mound surfaced as his throw was far off line in 5th or 6th inning. Rangers had to be pleased with his effort; they received an immediate dividend from the deal; Cubs will need to wait long while to learn if they benefit.

I got pretty lucky with some tickets in the 1st row, right behind and to the left of home plate a few seats, on tuesday night. I could see every pitch and the break on them. The Umpire was having a bad night or should be released. It was terrible, he called Ransom out on Strike 3 twice, both appeared to be ball four. The second time, Ransom just tossed his bat up in the air, Sveum came out, argued, got kicked out. He also called Soriano out on a high outside pitch.
Ransoms 3rd time up, he lined out to SS on the 1st pitch, then slammed his helmet down. Last night Castro, struck out and broke his bat over the plate, I also seen him spike his helmet in the dugout a week or so ago. On this subject, I understand frustration, but someone ( Sveum ) needs to stop these actions, very unprofessional.
As cubs talk states, there have been a bunch of calls missed in this series by the Umpires, on both sides.
I dont think the Umpires are half as good as they were in the 60’s and 70’s. Time for Selig to do something??

I was thinking the same thing Jasper regarding the umps of the 60’s and 70’s being better than today’s umps. With that said, an OCCASSIONALLY bad home plate ump is something players have bee dealing with for a long time, don’t you think some responsibility should fall on the hitters to adjust after the first at bat? Kind of like “fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice, shame on me”??? It’s gonna happen…. this is where I too agree with you regarding Sveum, he can’t do anything about the ump’s bad strike zone (well, getting ejected MAY help so good for him) but he certainly could and should do something about the players’ reactions.

BC barney sucks… time for everyone to realize this … how many times do I have to say this? O and that gg was a fluke and Ill just say I told u so now… given us -.1 war… only .7 dwar…. just not cutting it… move on

THE QUESTION WAS: Why was Barney charged with an error when the ball hit the bag? I thought the rule in that case is “no error”. We ALL know how you feel about Barney and DO NOT NEED to hear you repeat it OVER AND OVER AND OVER. If you can’t answer a baseball rule question just say so and …..move on.

Oh White….you made my night. Hilarious when baseless OPINIONS from HWSRN and others are VALID contributions to this blog even when NOT addressing a simple rules question like you asked….but when WE chime in with OUR opinions (and by the way our opinions refrain from the word “suck” but what can you do with the immature?) we are drawn and quartered for not sticking “to baseball”. BC Barney sucks…ha, ha I’m sure we’ll find that in the rule book. Good stuff White, right? YOU ARE THE BEST. Enjoy the “late” AZ game tonight friend! I know I will considering Soriano was yanked for a trade. I know you feel differently and respect that but I will certainly enjoy the evening…

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